Half to earl a



(No Model.)

v D. L. SMITH.

BUGKLE.

No. 374,010. Pdtented Nov. 29, 1887.

' UNITED STATES PATENT CEEICE.

DWIGHT L. SMITH, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO EARL A. SMITH, OF SAME PLACE.

BUCKLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of' Letters Patent No. 374,010, dated November 29, 1887.

Application filed September 5, 1887. Serial No. 248,810. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DWIGHT L. SMITH, of Waterbury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Buckles; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in-

Figure 1, a front view of the buckle complete; Fig. 2, a rear view of the buckle complete; Fig. 3, a rear view of the buckle, showing the plate B turned up over thejaw a into a horizontal plane; Fig. 4, an end view of the buckle; Fig. 5, a vertical section of the buckle; Fig. 6, the principle plate A as cut from sheet metal; Fig. 7, the wire hook and pintles; Fig. 8, the second or hinged plate, B, as cut from sheet metal.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of buckles commonly used for suspenders, and which are made from a sheetmetal plate having a jaw adapted to engage the strap, such buckles usually being provided with a hook by which the braces may be con veniently attached. In this class of buckles the jaw has usually been hinged to the plate, and so'as to swing toward and from the plate to impinge upon the strap and grasp it between the jaw and plate. In many cases the frame is of box-like character, consisting of a front and back, with a jaw adapted to act through one plate against the other.

The object of my invention is to construct a buckle which shall have the advantages of this class, or, as it is generally called, boxbuckle, and also possess the advantages of an open frame.

A represents the front plate, which forms practically the base, or what may .be called the frame of the buckle. The lower edge of this frame is provided with any suitable means for attaching the strap. (Here represented as a hook of peculiar character, to be hereinafter described.)

The upper edge of the plate Ais turned rearward to form a jaw, a, the edge of which is toothed or serrated, as seen in Fig. 6, the bet broken lines, Fig. 3.

ter to engage the suspender. This plate is constructed with projecting ears b 0n the jaw side at each end of the jaw, but distant from the extreme end of the plate, so as to form notches or recesses c. The ends ofthe plate are also constructed with projections d, which are turned backward at right angles to the plate to form the ends ofthe buckle, as seen in Fig. 4. Across the frame, beneath the jaw, a wire is introduced, in length corresponding to the length of the frame, this wire being represented in I) are closed, as seen in Fig. 3, so as to firmly hold the wire upon the plate. This wire extends at each end beyond the ears I), so as to form a pintle, e, exposed through the recesses or notches 0. Upon these ends or pintles e the swinging or hinged part B of the frame is hung. This part B is formed from a blank, as seen in Fig. 8, having an ear, 9, projecting from each end, which are turned forward. This plateB is arranged upon the back ofthe plate A, as indicated in Fig. 5, the ears 9 ex tending to the wire E, and the ears are each constructed with lateral projections h, which are closed around the projecting ends 6 of the pintle in the recesses c of the plate A, as indicated in Fig. 3, and so as to form a hinge between the plate B and the plate A, and so that the plate B may be turned thereon, as indicated in broken lines, Fig. 4; but when the two plates are turned into a position parallel with each other, as seen in Fig. 5, then the teeth of the jaw a so nearly approach the inside of the plate B and above the hinge as to impinge upon the strap, which may be introduced between thejaw a and thehinged plate B.

To introduce the strap, the hinged plate B is turnedupward, so as to take it above the jaw A and into substantially a horizontal plane,

vwhich leaves a sufficient space between the top of the jaw a and the plate B to permit the strap to be passed through from the front rearward. Then when the strap is so introduced, the plate B is returned into its vertical position, which works like a cam over the edge of the jaw a, and forces the jaw to impinge hard upon the strap and so clamp the strap between the jaw and the hinged plate B.

To readjust the strap, the hinged plate is Around this wire the ears I seen in Fig. 7.

turned upward into the horizontal position, when the strap is free to be disengaged from the jaw and readjusted.

As before stated, this class of buckles is usually provided with a hook. To make this hook from wire, I make it as a part of the pintle, as The wire is doubled, its doubled end forming the tip iof the hook U. The legs or sides of the hook are then extended upward, and near the edge of the plateA are turned to the right and left, thence again upward, and their ends turned outward to form the pintles c, as seen in Fig. 7. The ears 6 of the plate are closed upon the upper ends or pintle portions, as before described; but, as a further support, the lower edge of the plate A is con structed with cars Z, which are closed around the horizontal portions of the wire at the lower edge of the frame, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3. The plate A may also be constructed wit-h a down ward projection, m, which will form the spring for the hook; but the spring is not essential to the invention.

I do not wish to be understood in this application as claiming, broadly, a sheet-n1etal buckle having a wire hook attached, as that is the subject of an indpeudent application; but

\Vhat I do claim is v 1. A buckle consisting ofasheet-metal plate, A, having its upper edge turned backward at substantially right angles to form thejaw a, the lower edge of the plate provided with means, substantially as described, for attaching the braces, a Wire beneath the jaw and secured to the plate A, and a second sheet-metal plate, B, upon the back of the plate A, hinged to the said wire, the said plate 13 extending above the jaw, and which, with the said jaw, forms a clamp for the strap, the said plate B adapted to be turned upon its hinge above the plate A into a horizontal plane, substantially as described.

2. A buckle consisting ofa sheet-metal plate, A, the upper edge of which is turned backward to form the jaw a, a hook made from wire secured to said plate, the hook portion extending below the plate, the ends of the wire extending upward beneath the jaw and there turned to the right and left to form pintles c, and a second plate, 13, upon the back of the plate A, hinged to the said pintle c, and which, with the jaw a, forms a clamp toengage the strap, the said plate B being adapted to be turned upward over thejaw a into a horizontal plane, substantially as described.

DWIGHT L. SMITH.

Witnesses:

J AMES STovELL, H. L. SLAUSON. 

